A contract in blood
by Chara The Hylian Uzumaki
Summary: Naruto's been injured and can't go on missions for the next month. He's short on money and his contract with the landlord is almost up, but what happens when he isn't willing to pay the price any longer? Will he stand strong or crumble under the pressure? Really, is it even worth it anymore?
1. Chapter 1

A Contract In Blood

 **Hello! This is the first fanfiction I've written on this account, so welcome to me! I wanted to just give a shout out to Windschild8178. It's not like they need any shout outs, especially from someone like me who no one knows. But every story writen is so well done and well thought out and so much effort is put into it. 'Accidental Companions' especially is a must read and is what inspired me to write this story! It still hasn't been finished and while I am one of the believers that it'll be revisit one day, why not kill the time by writing my own fanfic! So without further a dew (a dew? adue? Don't count on my grammar) let's get on with the story!**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, yada yada.

* * *

Team 7 were on their way back from a 2 week long mission. They'd had to escort an up and coming young actor to her next show in Rice Country. For the most part it had been uneventful, and would've been quite a laid back mission if not for the fact that, like most, the young actor had developed a crush on the broody member of team 7, which of coarse made the other two members unsurprisingly jealous. For all Sakura's talk, she could be just as loud as Naruto when she wanted to. Needless to say havoc ensued. Yes, it had been a ... loud journey.

They'd only been a few miles from the village when they were ambushed by a couple of bandits. Normally, they would've been a piece of cake, but they were unusually sneaky. So, naturally, when Naruto found there was a kuni in his arm, it came as a shock. They jumped into action, Kakashi going after one and Sasuke and Naruto going after the other. Naruto pulled out the kuni in his arm, readying himself to use the weapon to attack when he fell to the floor with a cry, gripping the wound.

"Naruto!" He heard Kakashi yell, as he ran to his side. Sasuke had already taken out the opponent as Kakashi checked the flesh wound, which had already healed. Frowning he lifted his hitai-ate, revealing his sharingan.

"His chakra's going crazy," he mumbled. "But what-" His eye caught the light glinting off the kuni and noticed faint drops of liquid glimmering on it's surface. His frown deepend. "Poison."

"Poison?" Sakura asked worried for her team mate. She scurried over when she heard him bite back a cry. "Sensei what should we do?!"

"Let's hurry back to the village. Lady Hokage will know how to deal with this." Lifting Naruto onto his back, they continued to run back to the village.

* * *

"Well good news is you'll make a full recovery,"

"Aw thanks Baa-chan! Your the best!"

"But-" Tsunade continued, "You'll be off ninja duties for about 3 weeks a month tops."

"Wahhh!?"

It was about 7pm when they'd reached the village. They'd gone straight to the hospital, where they'd found Tsunade doing her regular check up as head medic. They'd quickly identified the poison as Lythro Himiya, an especially deadly poison for ninja, as it turns chakra against the victim, including their own and results in the chakra attacking the victims chakra coils. And unfortunately they'd managed to hit the boy with chakra levels bigger than a kage's. In the worst case scenario it could've irreparably damaged his chakra pathways to the point where his vitals wouldn't be receiving their expected amount of chakra, leading to his vitals collapsing. How those bandits got their hands on such a deadly poison was beyond her.

"You're lucky you only got a tiny bit of that poison in you! It could've been much worse trust me on that, you might've had to retire your ninja career early! To make sure that doesn't happen, your going to have to rest until the poison leaves your system since we can't remove it with chakra, and that will take about 2 weeks. To be safe I want you to be resting for an extra week. That means no missions and no training! You're birthday's coming up soon anyway, it'll be good to have a break from your duties."

"But Baa-chan! What am I supposed to do for a whole 3 weeks?! I need to go on missions or I'll die of bordem instead!"

"No Naruto! As your hokage and head medic I order you to take leave until I deem you healthy enough to return to your duties." Tsunade glared at Naruto with a sense of finality.

"But-!"

"Come on Naruto it's not that bad. Those 3 week will go by in no time. And I'm sure Sasuke and Sakura can managed missions on their own for that long." At Kakashi's statement, both Sakura and Sasuke seemed to realise something at the same time.

 _'A whole month on my own, with Sasuke-kun! This is my big chance!'_ Sakura thought, stars in her eyes as Sasuke gulped and seemed to edge toward the door.

"Yeah Naruto-baka! You go rest! Sasuke and I will do just fine on our own!" She squealed.

"Oh... OK." Naruto seemed to mumble before sighing exaggeratedly "But your buying me ramen!"

Tsunade's tone softned, "Alright Naruto, before you go I need to give you a shot. It will prevent you from using chakra other than for the natural flow . We don't want your unnatural healing ability to suddenly appear like it did when those bandits attacked and accidentally put back the actual healing process. You'll be a bit sore for the next few weeks until the poison fully leaves but there's not enough chakra to cause damage or unbearable pain."

He nodded as she got out the needle and injected his arm with the chakra limiter.

" Well, I'll see you soon for your weekly check up. You can go home now."

"Alright!" He yelled, and promptly left, followed by the rest of his team.

* * *

Once they'd got outside, they'd been about to part ways and walk to their respective homes when Naruto loudly suggested,

"Hey! Do you guys wanna go eat some place? We could go to-!"

"Naruto! I don't want any ramen! And I'm too tired to deal with you right now." Sakura replied irritably.

"Hnn. Go eat by yourself." And with that Sasuke was gone, soon followed by Sakura.

"Sorry Naruto, looks like your on your own."

"But what about-?" But Kakashi had already shunshined away, leaving Naruto on his own. His grin faltered as he looked up to the moon which hung low in the sky, only just beginning it's assent. It would be too dark to stay out soon.

Naruto's walk home was a long one, going the scenic way along the edge of the forest, away from prying eyes. It gave him the kind of peace his usual life seemed to lack. The lush trees soon turned into worn down buildings, with questionable people emerging from the shadows in the safety of night. They looked his way and nodded as he passed. He sighed in resignation before trudging down an alleyway to his apartment building.

It seemed to loom above him as he stood outside it's doors. _'Well, no point putting it off any further.'_ He took a deep breath and stole himself. Moving up the flight of stairs up to the 4th floor, he hadn't spotted anyone. When he finally reached his apartment door, he took one final look around before darting in and locking the door behind him. He took his time looking around the apartment. It was just as it had been before, not a thing out of place. He sighed and began to walk to his room. He was just as tired as the rest of the team, if not more so, but he could dwell on the day tomorrow. As he walked forward, he felt something crumple beneath his feet and bent over to pick the object up. It was a note addressed to him that read:

 _Naruto,_

 _Don't forget, the contract's almost up. I'll be needing that money soon._

 _\- The Landlord_

Crumpling the note up and throwing it aside, he entered the bedroom, remembering to lock the door behind him. He was so tired he flopped onto his bed, not even bothering to remove his shoes, before he drifted off into oblivion.

* * *

One look at the clock told him he'd woken at 5:00. He forced himself out of bed and started preparing for the day, going to have his morning wake-up shower. It was when he went for his usual ninja-wear that it hit him. He wasn't allowed to go on any missions. No missions for a month. That meant no _money_ for a month. "Fuck." He paced the room as he let the information sink in. "How am I gonna do this?" Today was the 13th September. So that was what? 27 days? "OK," He breathed as he stopped, "OK, I can make this work. First, work out what job spaces are open."

He'd gotten dressed into a simple short-sleeved black shirt and black cargo trousers and had began to form the seals for a henge when he remembered the his chakra restrictions. " Of all the things to be poisoned with." He muttered, taking a deep breath. In his room, he managed to find a woollen black hat that sagged at the back and was a little loose around his head. It was clearly made for winter, but at least no one would recognise his blinding blonde hair. He continued to riffle through his draws until he plucked out the item he was searching for. It was mask similar to Kakashi's that continued to cover his torso. That took care of his whiskers. It wasn't much but hopefully it was enough that they wouldn't recognises him. Luckily his normal henge was quite similar to this disguise, sans the mask. It was surprisingly hard to breath with it on. How Kakashi did it 24/7 he'd never know. His face must be all kinds of fucked up under there to put up with this. After locking his door, he flew down the flights of stairs and exited the building. It was only 6:20, he had plenty of time to look around. He decided to go check out Grale Street first. That was the most active place in Konoha's 'Red District' and was his best bet in finding a decent paying job that wasn't as... presumptuous.

* * *

As he entered his apartment, he held a small smile on his masked face. All in all, it had gone pretty well. He'd managed to secure 3 new jobs. It had been hard to find places with openings that had schedules that didn't clash with each other, but he'd somehow managed to do it. For the next few weeks, he'd be working from 6:00 to 14:00 at Kobb's, the main delivery service in the area. Then 16:00 to 20:30 at the local grocery store on Mondays, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. And 14:30 to 19:00 at butchers on the remaining days. As well as all this, he also had his regular job at the Downtown Pub, from 22:00 to 2:00. He'd been working there for a good few years now and was proud to admit that he'd managed to secure quite a well-paying position for all his dedication. It was dangerously close to the Main Street but it had definitely proved worth the risk. He glanced at the clock. It was 9pm so he still had 45 minutes before he had to leave, and so he settled into the sofa, head lent back so that he was staring at the ceiling. For all the set backs, maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all.


	2. Chapter 2

A Contract in Blood

 **Hello again! First of all I wanted to thank all of you who followed and favourited this story. Yes all 4 of you! I never thought I'd get either of these on my story at all, let alone in the first week! So I wanted to personally (well as personally as a typed out message goes) thank Felljack, KatyCat1402, Lindzzey H, and a special thanks to Oniele for actually _reviewing_! Honestly, it's worrying how much 3 words meant to me. And when I'm rich and famous I will remember you all dearly. **

**Now onward with the story!**

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

"You boy! Butterfingers! You better not be breakin' none o' those packages, and I don't want no dily-dallying. I don't care if it's ya' first day, I don't tolerate no bad service."

"Yes sir."

Naruto hurriedly left Kobb's with the large bag of deliveries, feeling his boss's stare on the back of his head as he turned the corner down another alley way. His first day on the job, and admittedly it had been harder than expected. Without being able to rely on his shadow clones, he'd been forced to do his work the old fashioned way, which wasn't turning out to be the best. It turns out he wasn't just an unpredictable ninja, but an incredibly clumsy one too. After dropping the 4th box he had unofficially claimed the name 'Butterfingers', a name of which he was quickly growing to resent. He had begun to wonder why he'd even bothered with a cover name (Nat) when he'd just be given one on the first damn day. His only solace was the fact that he knew the 'Red district' like the back of his hand, which would hopefully help up the speed of his deliveries, as well as his reputation.

"Please sign here. Thank you ma'am."

Before long he'd given the last parcel to the shady looking client, and returned to the shop for the next batch. This continued for several rounds until his working hours came to a close. "Alright kid, here's ya' earnings," His boss addressed him as he handed over a wad of cash, which Naruto quickly counted and pocketed. "Considerin' ya' start, you didn't do half bad. I'll see you tomorrow Butterfingers." Naruto scowled but nodded and began to exit the shop. As he did so however, a small parcel teetering on the top of one of the many stacks around the small shop, closest to the door caught his attention.

 _-Ryobi Yinparo_

 _Drow Street_

 _DN7 F2W_

 _Block B, 9A_

Naruto's eyes narrowed at the name. His eyes moved around the room, confirming everyone else was in the back sorting through deliveries before snatching it up, pocketing the package and leaving. He only had half an hour before his second job of the day started, so figuring their was no harm in showing up early, he set off for the butchers.

* * *

 _Chop. Chop. Chop._ This was much more down his alley. He found just mindlessly hacking away at a piece of meat surprisingly calming. The 4 and a half hours had seemed to fly by. If these were D-ranks then he'd be set, although he wondered whether hi two teammates would feel similarly. He frowned at the thought.

"I wonder what they're doing now?" He pondered aloud, ignoring the hanging, _'without me.'_

"Oi! Nat! Throw these rotten pieces of meat out will you, and then your done for the day, cash's on the table!" The butcher called from out front.

Naruto went to retrieve the out-of-date meat before walking out the backdoor and to the dumpsters. As he was about to throw them away however, he heard a whine and a nudge at his leg. Looking down he saw a frail looking dog. It's once golden fur looked more brown due to the dirt, and it's skin clung closely to it's bones, showing off the ever prominent ribs. It saddened Naruto whenever he saw one of these stray animals. This was one of the few times he'd seen one on their feet, moving around. He tossed the meat to the dog, who took the offering gladly, and he lightly stoked the dog, a slight smile on his face. He'd always had a soft spot for dogs. Funny, this one almost reminded him of- .

His hand dropped as he stood up and walked back into the building, removing his gloves as he did so. After counting the money and bidding farewell he began his trek home. It was a Tuesday so he was free for the night. Although on days like these there wasn't exactly much to do.

Once he'd secured the lock on the door, he set about making dinner. A simple bowl of rice would do, and picking some home-grown beans to accompany it, he set the rice cooker to cook as he had a quick shower.

He cringed as the cold water pelted his back. It surprised him how he was still unused to the cold, but it didn't seem to bother him too much as the shower was over just 5 minutes later. Refreshed, he sat himself down at the table as he waited for his dinner to cook. Other then the few plants scattered here and there, the joint room was quite barren, and so he found himself staring at the wood grains on the table whilst his mind wondered to other subjects. _'I'll have to go to the market tomorrow. God, that's gonna be a pain. I just hope it'll be worth it.'_ A sudden ding broke him out of his thoughts, as he went to serve himself dinner.

His meal was a quick one, and after watering all his plants he was getting ready for bed. He could've stayed up and found some way to spend his rare free time, but he'd decided to call it an early night. There were more important things to be worried about than amusement, and after all, he'd be busy tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3

Contract in Blood

 **Hi guys! Again I want to thank all of those who have supported this story so far. It warms my hearts when I check up on my story and I see an extra follower (No I don't sit here refreshing my page waiting for one what are you talking about.) So THANK YOU!**

 **Also after writing this chapter I came to the realisation I probably need to rate this an M so if that puts you off... please stay anyway this is all I have.**

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto, and if we're being honest it's probably best if it stayed that way.

* * *

 _An 8 year old Naruto ran down the street, tears streaming down his face. He was always causing trouble for ji-ji. Always. He didn't want to be a nuisance, he knew if he left it'd be easier for The 3rd. He refused to be a burden to the only one who cared for him. He'd find his own apartment! He was a big boy now, he couldn't always rely on others._

 _He looked around suddenly, noticing it had gotten quite dark. He didn't know this area of town, but something felt... off. He didn't like how the woman standing on the corner was looking at him. It wasn't the hate filled glare he usually received, it was something else entirely. What it was though he didn't know. He ran down a few alleyways to get away, but stopped when he reached a dead end. He contemplated just sleeping on the floor here, in this dingy place with the bins, but thought better and turned around to leave, when a large hand wrapped around his head and rammed him to the left, right into the brick wall. His vision swam as he tried to righten himself and run, but he couldn't seem to bring himself to stand._

 _"Well lookie who we 'ave 'ere! It's tha' demon brat!" The man slurred heavily to his two friends, obviously just as wasted as he was. " Ain't it sweat of im' ta' come right to us too! I dunno bout' you boys but I need a good stress reliever."_

 _He smirked as he stumbled forward. Naruto scrambled between the man's legs, desperate to make an escape but was easily caught by the man's friends. Their kicks and punches rained down on him until he couldn't even feel them anymore. His struggle was futile against bodies so much bigger than his. A hand grabbed his face and slammed his head into the floor, and he was out._

 _He wasn't surprised when he woke up to the aches and pains of his body, just lifting his arms felt like hell. What did surprise him however, were the bandages that covered them. Looking around, he felt panic bubble up inside him. He was in a room, a bedroom, and one that he didn't recognise. Why had they taken him? Why not just leave him there? What were they going to do to him? He began to struggle at the thought, but glancing down he felt confusion replace his anxiety. They'd bandaged him up, but if they were going to beat him again, why would they bother?_

 _His head shot to the side when he heard a door creak open. A man, probably in his early 40's walked in, looking at him with an unreadable expression on his face. Well, that certainly wasn't who Naruto was expecting. He didn't recognise him as one of his attackers, so maybe he had seen him in the alley and helped? That raised even more questions. Maybe he was just a nice person, like ji-ji. Naruto scanned him looking for anything threatening. He had shaggy brown hair that seemed to be greying, that hung over the bandages covering the left side of his face. He wore simple dark blue robes, with a white undershirt. Nothing out of the ordinary. The man's blood shot eyes seemed to stare through him for a second before the man turned and left. "Come." It was a command, and Naruto felt compelled to follow._

 _With shaking legs, he followed the man out of the small bedroom and into a hallway with a number of doors on either side. The last door on the right lead to a kitchen, which they entered, and after a prompting gesture from the mysterious man, he sat down at the wooden table in the middle of the room. They said nothing as food was placed before Naruto. He poked at it with the chopsticks warily, making sure there was nothing sharp, before slowly eating._

 _"Um, how long was I out for?"_

 _" Three days."_

 _Naruto was surprised. This man had taken care of him for three days? He decided not to comment on it though, and continued to eat as the man had._

 _There was a tense silence though out the meal. As Naruto placed his chopsticks beside the empty bowl, h_ _is eyes darted anywhere but the man sitting opposite him. Honestly, he didn't know what to think. The man wasn't the friendliest of people, but he hadn't done anything to warrant his distrust so far. Other than the awkward silence, it had been quite nice to eat with company that didn't openly hate his guts. He peaked at the man from the corner of his eyes. He was looking at Naruto with that unreadable expression again, a glassed look in his one visible eye. He didn't know how to feel about that. Figuring he had over stayed his welcome anyway, he decided it would probably be best to leave._

 _"Um," He began, garnering the man's full attention. "Thank you, for patching me up and giving me this meal. I wish I could repay you, but I don't really have anything..."_

 _"There's no need." The man said in his low gravely voice._

 _Naruto stared surprised. He didn't need to give him anything? The man hadn't seemed to change his mind as he continued to look at Naruto. A small smile bloomed on his face._

 _"T-thank you. Well, I should really go. I need to find a good place to sleep for the night."_

 _As he got up to leave he saw a spark in the mans eye before he spoke up._

 _"Why don't you stay here?"_

 _The smile dropped. "Stay in your apartment? Why?"_

 _"I'm the landlord of this building. I would be happy to let you stay in one of the apartments."_

 _"...How much for?"_

 _At this the man chuckled. "Free of charge."_

 _Naruto frowned. "For free? How would that benefit you?" He didn't like the sound of this at all._

 _"Well the people here are more come and go, so often the apartment building's empty, and I can get quite lonely at times. It would be nice to have some company for once."_

 _He visibly perked up. This man knew what it felt like to be lonely. Maybe, he understood. Maybe, he could finally have a friend?_

 _Grinning, he looked up at the man. "Sure! I've been looking for an apartment so this is perfect! I'll go tell ji-ji!" He went over to the door and began to run down the corridor towards the steps. Suddenly remembering something, he stopped and turned around to see the man standing in the door way watching him go._

 _"Hey, what's your name?"_

 _The man smiled, "Ryobi."_

* * *

"So, do you have what I need?"

The middle aged man grinned, showing off his yellow teeth, missing and all. "Coarse' we do lad! £40 will get you all you need."

"It's the strong stuff?"

"Best of the best! High dose a' this 'ere Krokodil and he won't be botherin' you no more."

"Alright, hand it over. Here's the money. Keep the Coke too, I won't be needing it."

"Thank you lad. Now be on your way. Out the back now."

Naruto nodded his thanks, pocketing the re-sealed package and exiting the building. He had a job to get to.

"Milk - check. butter - Check. Yogurt - check. OK, dairy products are good. No onto toiletries. First up, Toilet paper - huh. We're out of stock. That's unfortunate."

Naruto made his way down the checklist of things they needed to order. He liked his job at the grocery. Working behind the scenes was much easier than dealing with all the annoyi- loyal customers that he cares deeply for. Yeah that's it. He'd almost finished for the day. All he had to do was pass on the checklist to his boss and he'd be able to leave. Unfortunately he'd have to wait till the end of the work week to get his pay but hey, he could wait another 4 days. As he reached the door to his boss's office, he felt his leg twitch and he tripped, almost falling into a stack of dinner plates. Luckily he managed to swerve out the way, but damn that had been close. He frowned as he got up from the floor. He didn't remember being so clumsy before. Maybe Sakura was right when she complained about him, but it was slightly hard to take in what she's saying when your focused on your ringing ears. Shaking his head, he continued on his way to give in his work for the day, before biding farewell and leaving.

Naruto walked slowly as he admired the evening sky. It was lit up a brilliant orange, which made him smile. This was the best time of day for Naruto. Walking along the tree line, the sun behind the trees casting rays of light that scatter between the leaves. He felt at peace. He sighed as he walked away from the scene towards those old worn down buildings once more. He walked through the twists and turns that lead to his current home. He heard a creaking come from above him as passed through an alley way about a block away from his apartment building. He looked up to see the old broken pipes hanging precariously above him. He didn't like walking under them, as they largely resembled a game of Kerplunk, except the thing that would be falling would be those worryingly sharp pipes, which would probably end up falling on someone one day, namely him. Unfortunately, it was the alley way that would take him to his section of apartment blocks, so he had no choice. He'd hoped they'd be fixed at some point, but considering they'd been there longer than he'd been living in the area, it was doubtful.

He walked out the alley, feeling it was a bad omen to continuously stand underneath them, and walked the rest of the way to the building. As he entered and climbed the stairs, he paused at the 3rd floor. Being careful to avoid all the creaky floor boards, he made his way down the corridor, stopping before a door. 9A. Slowly, he bent down and placed the package in front of the door before re-tracing his steps and continuing up the flight of stairs to the final floor, where he made his way into his apartment before locking the door.

He sighed a breath of relief, before moving towards the kitchen to put on dinner. Good. He hadn't been seen. As he readied the rice though, he couldn't help but wonder if that was all really worth it? It would be a bit anti-climactic. Well, desperate times call for desperate measures, and anyway he wasn't known to be picky, and he wasn't about to start now. If it worked he'd take it. If not, well he'd find another way.

 _'Well,'_ He thought as he sat at the table, _'I'll just have to play the waiting game.'_


	4. Chapter 4

A Contract in Blood

 **So I realise my chapters are pretty short. I've tried to fix it but trying to describe things that have no real relevance to the story is harder than it might seem. So I was thinking from next chapter on I'll just write 2 chapters into 1, which might take slightly longer, so to everyone who waits desperately for my chapters (Don't take this away from me.) you'll just have to wait a couple extra days. Thanks!**

Disclaimer: Still don't own Naruto.

* * *

Naruto read the next order on the slips of paper hanging above him as he readied the ingredients for his next dish. He made sure to keep one eye on the hob, so as to insure they didn't go up in flames... like last time. He cringed at the memory. He vowed to never again try to cook 5 things at one time, no matter how many orders were waiting on him.

"Hey! Are those orders ready to be served yet?!" One of the waiters, Leo he remembered, shouted at him through the door to the kitchen.

"Give it another 10 minutes!"

"We aint' got all day you know! Those people out there are like starved lions, and if they don't get their fair share of food soon I think they might just settle for me."

"Well unless you want to explain to them why their food is raw and tasteless, I suggest you let them wait a little longer!"

"You two! Get back to work!" The head chef called with his sharp gaze, silencing both of them.

It was hectic, as waiters and chefs bumbled about trying to accommodate for all the extra people that came with a Friday night. As one of the main chefs, he felt the most pressure as he had angry and, more often than not, drunk people on his ass demanding that he find a way to miraculously speed up time so that their dishes were cooked faster.

Most people off from work by this time, and without the worry of work the next day, many liked to enjoy the night by drinking it away. The Downtown Pub was quite popular, considering it was conveniently surrounded by many bid named shops, and so was well known They were also quite cheap, which showed in their choice of food and alcohol. But when you're drunk off your ass it's hard to taste the cause of your nausea anyway.

The oven beeped and Naruto took out the contents, as well as serving the vegetables in the pot sitting on the hob. He seasoned the stakes before placing the food on their respective plates and dinging the bell to signal a waiter, before rushing back to complete another batch of orders.

He looked through the door and saw the place maxed out, as per usual on days like this. The bar was packed and there wasn't an empty chair in sight. He sighed and got back to work. It was on days like these that he wondered whether he should've stuck to being a waiter. Imagine the amount of tips he could've made! He snickered as he remembered how many people he conned into giving him extra using his orphan status. But it quickly turned into a grimace as he recounted the drunken groping. He shivered, No, this was definitely the right choice.

As he was walking to the walk-in freezer, he tripped into the door, eliciting a few snickers from his colleagues. He frowned as he got back up. He'd noticed he'd been a lot clumsier than usual. Not to say he'd been fairy footed before but be tripping so much just wasn't normal. His check up with Tsunade was in a couple of days, maybe he'd bring it up with her to see if she knew the cause of many of his recent embarrassments.

He felt a stare on the back of his head, and turned subtly towards the perpetrator. The head chef was glaring at him like he'd just cost him his job, but Naruto just huffed in annoyance and continued on. This was a regular occurrence. Ever since the boss gave him, a 'measly three year old who couldn't know the sink from the oven', a promotion before the man, he'd held a grudge for Naruto. Spiting him even when he ultimately was made head chef, making him Naruto's superior. Any time Naruto did something even remotely wrong, he'd be the first to jump on it. Honestly. Some people took things way too seriously. He was just some kid for God's sake! At least he was on friendly terms with most others, or he didn't think he would've been able to will himself to keep the job. He glanced at the clock and sighed in relief when he realised it was 1:40. He'd be able to go home and relax soon enough.

* * *

He walked down the street, carefully eyeing the drunken chunnin that hung around in groups. Most were too drunk to recognise him under his pitiful disguise, and many didn't care either way. Still, he'd learnt it payed to be careful, and so he made an effort to steer clear of the main road and any stray groups he passed.  
He walked quickly until he got to the dodgy area of town before finally slowing down. Not many came down here they were actually living here.

He walked his usual path back to his apartment. The roads were much more lively now, the residence seeming to emerge as the rest of the village laid to rest. Homeless men rustling through the bins in a back alley, and the distant vibrations of music were natural to he walked past, thinking nothing of the woman who lured a man into an alley as he put a wad of cash into her purse.

He stopped as a hand grabbed his wrist and he tensed.

"Hey there, you're looking stressed. I could help you with that for £35."

Naruto pulled his wrist free from the woman and continued to walk.

"Sorry. Not interested."

But she grabbed onto his shoulder, pulling herself into his line of sight.

"Oh come on. I'll make it worth your while." The girl persisted with a coy smile.

"What are you doing?"

He heard a woman hiss as she came around the corner, prying the girl's fingers from his shoulder.

"Trying to make an income, What's your problem?"

"That's Yui's boy."

The girl's eyes widened before turning to take a good look at him. She sucked in a breath.

"Oh! S-Sorry, we'll be on our way now."

They scurried away back around the corner, leaving a grim-faced Naruto. He walked on, face down the rest of the way. He didn't want to see her face.

 _'Not like that.'_


	5. Chapter 5

A Contract in Blood

 **Hey! So sorry this was a bit late. I'd written all of it on my i-pod expecting to just mail it to myself, only to realise for some reason it was refusing to work. I had _alot_ of fun copying this onto my computer. Needless to say I won't be doing that again. I did try to lengthen the chapter but I didn't want to put even more angst into it and I find it sad to say that I find just writing chill moments in a story very hard. I'm really trying to avoid an angst fest here but how well I'm going about that... I fell like a sick side of me loves seeing characters that I love suffer. I can't be the only one. **

**Anyway! Thanks for reading on, and I hope you enjoy it regardless!**

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

Naruto sat on the chair as Tsunade began running tests on him. He'd been sitting there for a good 20 minutes, hooked up to a handful of tubes monitoring the poison in his bloodstream, and fluctuations in his chakra. His attention fell on Tsunade as she finished fiddling with the strange machines beside him and moved to sit opposite him.

"Have you noticed any side effects recently? Dizziness or nausea? Stuff like that."

"Side effects?" He stopped to think. Had he experienced any side effects- Oh! _'Well that explains my sudden carelessness'_.

"I'm alot more clumsy than I was before."

"Clumsy?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Like I'll randomly trip over thin air, or I'll suddenly drop things that I really shouldn't be dropping."

She Hm'd to herself, before placing her hand on his arm, the familiar glow of green emanating from it.

"Ah," she said after a moment, removing her hand. "It seems the drug I gave you to block your chakra has had an effect on your muscles."

"What kind of effects?" He didn't like the sound of that at all.

"Nothing major. The drug is causing some of your muscles to twitch involuntarily. It's just minor spasms that might cause you to clench or un-clench unexpectedly, which may end in you tripping or dropping things. Don't worry. As soon as your off the stuff it'll go back to normal. Unfortunately there's not much else we can do but wait."

He breathed a sigh of relief. He could deal with that.

"That's good to know. I may be unpredictable, but I'm not clumsy! ...Most of the time!"

She smiled."Hm. Well apart from that, the poison's certainly leaving, albeit slowly. It'll probably be closer to a month before it leaves your system completely. Other than that, everything's as it should be."

He frowned, "Isn't there any way to get rid of it faster? I thought you were the best medic around?"

"I am," She lightly bopped his head, "And I'm telling you there's no other way but to wait it out."

He pouted, making a show of crossing his arms and turning away, but inwardly he was worried. He didn't like not having chakra at his disposal, and as much as he disliked the beast sitting in his gut, God knew the added healing ability was extremely useful. He felt... vulnerable. And that was not something he could afford to be.

"How am I supposed to entertain myself for that long?!"  
He threw his hands up, slumping against the back of the chair.

"I don't know, continue what you've been doing for the last week. What have you been doing anyway? Usually all I have to do to find you is look out my window and there'll be some sort of explosion, but it's been peaceful all week!"

"Wondering what Sakura-chan and the Teme have been doing without their favourite team mate. Where are they anyway? It's like their avoiding me!"

She didn't notice the hesitation in his voice at the end.

"Well I don't personally track the, but they've been doing quite well with their missions. There's no need to worry about them. I'm sure they'll come to see you soon."

"Oh... Well that's really good! I don't know how they're surviving without me!" He grinned.

She smiled back, patting his head, "OK, you can leave in a sec. I just need to give you another shot and you'll be good to go."

She rummaged through the draw until she found the needle, and filled the injector with drug. A second later and his sleeve had been pulled back down, and needle safely put away.

"Drop by sometime. It'll give me a good excuse to get away from all that lousy paperwork."

Naruto nodded, shouting his good bye before running off down the hall.

* * *

He walked out of the hospital, sighing contently at non-disinfectant smelling air. He began walking towards the market place. He had a few hours to kill before going back to work. He had had to take a day off from Kobb's to attend the appointment, which he was slightly embarrassed about as he'd only worked there for a week and was already taking a day off, and now had nothing to do. To be fair, he probably could've gone straight after the appointment, but he'd decided to give himself a breather for once.

He sighted them as he walked further away from the hospital. He sped up his pace towards Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi-sensei who were walking down the road heading towards the hokage tower.

He waved his hand, beaming excitedly, "Hey guys! Wha-"

He began before stopping short, slowing again to a stop. His smile slipped slightly as he watched his team from afar. They... were all laughing. Kakashi eye smiled as Sakura rather uncharacteristically waved her arms about, animatedly recounting something or other, a huge grin spread across her face. Even Sasuke, with his usual smirk, had mirth in his eyes. It made him wonder as he stared at them. when was the last time they'd laughed like that with him? He dropped his hand back to the side, smiling brightly as he passed team 7 on the opposite side of the street. Yes. He'd never had any doubts to be honest. They were fine without him.

* * *

He looked up at the sun. Huh. He still had 2 hours before he had to go to the grocery. He huffed, kicking a rock across the grassy field. He was walking through the training grounds as he had nothing better to do. To his ire he hadn't seen a single person on his walk. No one training, or just hanging about. No distant chatter, Just him and his thoughts.

He hadn't had a proper conversation with anyone but Tsunade in days, and even that was with an undertone of professionalism. Of coarse he could take her up on her offer, but when she said 'come pop by', he doubted she meant 'in a few hours from now'.

He sighed. He wished they'd come to see him. It was selfish. He was out most of the time and he didn't think they even knew where he lived, not to mention what he would do if he found out. He just wished they'd made an effort. That alone would've made him happy. Even after walking past them, with his bright yellow hair and blinding orange jacket, they hadn't spared him a glance. Was he that forgettable? Maybe they just didn't want to talk to him. Didn't think it worth their time. Maybe-

"Naruto-nii san!"

He blinked in confusion, before spinning around to be met with three pairs of eyes staring up at him.

"Konohamaru?"

"Hey Naruto-nii!" He grinned, "What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you that! Shouldn't you three be at the academy?"

They had the decency to look sheepish as Konohamaru explained, "But Iruka-sensei's lectures are so boring!"

The others were quick to nod in agreement. "He was trying to teach us about history," Moegi added. "I mean sure, The Shodaime and Nindaime were super cool ninja, just like Sandaime-sama! But the polit- polito-"

"Politics?" Naruto supplied.

"Yeah that! That was really boring. I don't see why we should have to learn about that stuff. Ninjas should be learning new awesome jutsu and how to be super strong!"

Naruto smiled softly at them. "Ahh, but you know, you can learn alot from past events."

They stared intrigued. "Really Naruto-nii?"

"Yeah!" He nodded. "think of it this way. Say you guys were sneaking out of class and hid on the Hokage monument, but you ended up being caught. Would you hide in the same place, or would you find a new spot?"

The three pondered for a moment before answering. "We'd hide in a new spot, that was better so that sensei wouldn't find us as easily as last time."

He nodded again, "Exactly. You looked back at your past experiences and judged based on that what the best coarse of action would be. Learning history is sorta like that but a bit more complicated. It can be invaluable information for ninja."

They looked at him in awe. "Wow, I never realised it could be so important."

"Now I kinda feel bad for skipping."

They looked down scuffing the ground with their sandals, a black cloud of depression above their heads. He scratched the back of his head, at a loss of what to do. He'd only wanted to each them an important lesson. It'd help them in the future.

"I know!" His eyes lit up in amusement, "How about I teach you guys a chakra control exercise?"

They perked up, but looked slightly sceptical. "Chakra control exercise?"

"Yeah. It's very advanced. I doubt you'll be able to handle it, but..."

He watched as a fire ignited in each of their eyes.

"Yes we can! Teach us! Please!"

He smirked. "Well, do any of you know how to climb trees?"

Almost 2 hours later had the four of them seated under the shade of the trees as three very sweaty kids laid on their backs desperately trying to gasp for air.

"You're - gasp - really tough - gasp - in your training Naruto-nii san." Udon wheezed as he rolled onto his side.

"Hey but you all got half way up the tree with basically no stumbles!"

"Because if we touched the floor one of your clones threw kunai at us! We could've died!"

He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "It worked didn't it?"

Konohamaru pouted. "It's only half way up. Face it. We suck."

"That's not true, you guys did great!" Naruto ruffled his hair, as they turned to look up at him.

"When I first learnt this exercise, it took me a whole day and night until I could get to the top! I was so out of it at the end my teammate had to carry me back. But you guys have gotten up half the tree in less than 2 hours and don't look worse for wear! Well, better than I did at least."

"Really Naruto-nii?" Moegi asked wide-eyed.

He grinned. "Yep!"

They puffed their chests out in pride.

"Yeah, I knew we were amazing! What do you expect from the future hokage?!" Konohamaru announced happily.

"Well you'll have to beat me first if you wanna become hokage!" Naruto smirked.

"But Naruto-nii, you suck even more than we do, and we're academy students!" Konohamaru laughed as the other burst into giggles. Naruto's eye twitched as he raised his fist.

"Shut it you brats!"

'Yes Naruto-nii' They chorused as three large bruises formed on each of their heads. He breathed a sigh before smiling. He'd had fun teaching them the tree walking exercise. They'd soaked in everything he'd said, hanging onto every word as if they were... important. It was nice. He leaned back and looked up, noticing it was almost 4. He stood up and gave a mini-salute.

"Well I've got somewhere I need to be. Make sure you keep practising this in your free time. I know you can all do it."

They stood up and beamed up at him. "We will!"

He nodded and turned to leave when he felt a tug on his sleeve. "Naruto-nii," Moegi looked up at him, "Will you come train with us again?"

He blinked surprised, before looking behind her at the boys, finding them looking at him with the same eager gaze. He returned his gaze to Moegi, before grinning genuinely. "I'd love to."

Seconds past before there was a rustling in the bushes on the far side of the field, breaking the trance all four had been captured in. Naruto recognised the person before he'd heard the voice.

"What are you three doing here?!"

"Well, I'd better be going, see you guys later!" Naruto waved before rather hurriedly leaping onto the roofs and rushing away.

"Well?"

The three turned to address their sensei, trying to come up with an excuse they hadn't used yet.

"But Iruka-sensei -"

"You can tell me on the way back. I've had to leave Suzume-sensei in charge because of you three."

As he led the three back towards the academy, he looked back with a fond smile. _'How you've grown Naruto.'_ His smile turned sad. _'If only you'd let me in.'_

* * *

Naruto walked through the forest to the small clearing he was so fond of. He loved to come here in his free time. It was about 10pm. He had an hour before his next job so he'd decided to relax.

"Sorry, I haven't come by in a couple of weeks. I've been busy. It's all been catching up to me recently, y'know?"

He smiled to himself as he moved to the large oak tree planted in the middle of the the clearing. It had to be at least a century old, towering above the rest. In mid-autumn, it's leaves ranged from a rich mahogany to a burnt yellow, with many littered on the ground. He found the picturesque scene beautiful. He felt, if only a bit, free here, simply himself and the trees. He sat at the base of the tree, a rope swinging from a low hanging branch. A light breeze brushed against his face and he closed his eyes, letting himself be absorbed into the nature, as he drifted off.

* * *

 _It was a cold night as Naruto lay on the floor of a dark alley way. He hadn't had food in 2 weeks and it had drawn him to the breaking point. He had resorted to stealing, only as much as he needed, but with how hungry he was, it was hard to be sneaky. They'd beaten him quite thoroughly, but not enough to make him lose his clutch on the can of beans he cradled for dear life. As he realised no one was coming to finish him off, he uncurled himself and desperately clawed at the can. He'd torn his fingers in the process of opening it, but was too hungry to care. He'd begun scraping out the beans with his hands, licking his fingers as he went, when he heard a whining at the entrance of the alleyway. He immediately went on guard, assuming the worst but quickly realised it was just a dog. A skinny one a realised as it moved closer to him. He could clearly see it's ribs through the off-blonde coloured skin._ 'Poor thing. Must not have eaten for days.' _As the dog came closer, he noticed it was staring at the can in his hands. He frowned, looking between the dog and the can. He sighed before thrusting it forward, looking away._

 _"You eat it I'm not hungry anyway." His stomach obviously disagreed as it rumbled loud enough for both to hear. He blushed as he thrust it closer to the dog. After a few seconds of hesitation, it began to eat. Once it had finished he looked back to find the can empty. He sighed before tossing it aside. The dog wagged its tail excitedly, nuzzling up to Naruto until he couldn't stay mad._

 _"Alright, I get it your grateful. It's OK. I know what it feels like to be hungry."_

 _The dog licked his face, and he couldn't stop the laugh that escaped._

 _"I think I'll call you Bean." He chuckled, and Bean licked his face again in response._

 _They stayed there sitting in the alley for an hour or so, and even for just a moment, Naruto felt happy. He'd found a friend!_

 _"Sparky!? Sparks?! Where are you?!"_

 _He heard a voice nearing as he tense and got ready to run, but Bean got up and started barking as it ran around the corner towards the voice leaving Naruto behind. He was surprised and a little hurt that his first 'friend' would leave him so easily, but decided getting away was the top priority._

 _"Sparky? Hey! Sparky! Whada you doin' here? Oh? What have you found now?"_

 _Naruto tried to run through the entrance, but ended up flying straight into someone's legs._

 _"And who's you're new friend then?"_

 _Bean came round and licked his face as he stared quite terrified at the silhouette of a person before him. Bean went into the alley, and came back with the empty tin of beans they'd shared. He put it on the floor between the two and barked up happily at his master._

 _"So he fed you did he? I hope you didn't eat all his food." She, Naruto now noticed, reprimanded lightly._

 _"W-what are y-you gonna do to me?" Naruto uttered finally._

 _The woman looked down at him slightly confused. She had brown hair with matching eyes, a small face, average sized nose. Nothing particularly striking. She was dressed in worn clothes that were a bit too tight. She must of been in her early 20's. She smiled, and some how she looked a whole lot more noticeable._

 _"Well, thank you for looking after Sparky of course! I hope he wasn't too much trouble." She smiled broadly, as Bean, or Sparky he guessed, whined in protest. "Oh! And he must've eaten your dinner, didn't he. Well I can't just leave you here to starve when you were so nice to family! I have some spare food at the apartment if you'd like to have some?"_

 _Naruto was immediately on alert. Going to a stranger's house was stepping on their territory. They'd have the upper hand, and that was not something he could afford if things were to get rough. She seemed to notice his apprehension however._

 _"Well, it's only natural that you don't trust me. I smart kid like you wouldn't just go with any stranger that came along. So how about this. My name is Yui. I don't have a last name, but then again, many round here don't."_

 _She smiled patiently at him, and he realised this was were he said his name. She seemed nice enough but..._

 _"If I told you my name you wouldn't like me."_

 _"Oh, I could never not like someone who helped some one that's precious to me."_

 _He stared back unsure, but her smile was encouraging, and he found himself compelled to trust this woman._

 _"My name's Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki." He mumbled, but her smile widened and she reached out to ruffle his hair._

 _"Well Naruto, would you like to accompany me and Sparky to dinner? We hardly ever have guests over and it would be nice to have some one new for a change."_

 _She held out her hand for him to take, and his mind stopped. He'd always seen the other kids walking with their parents, as he walked alone, desperate for any sort of attention. And he envied them. Those kids who had never had to yearn for the affection of a parent. Never once had to wonder what it was like to be held as they fell into blissful sleep, not having to worry about attacks because they knew they had their parents protection from the evils of the world. Those kids who refused that hand held out to them, because they were of all things_ embarrassed _to be seen doing such a thing. And in that moment as she reached her hand out, he didn't need to think, because it didn't matter who it was. He could pretend for just a moment that this woman who had shown him an ounce of kindness was his mother. And for just that moment, he could walk with a smile, blissfully unaware._

* * *

Naruto woke with a start. Checking the position of the moon, he realised he was 10 minutes late already.

"Crap."

He sped off towards the Downtown Pub. He already knew his superior was gonna take full advantage of this.


	6. Chapter 6

A Contract In Blood

 **I'm sorry! Please forgive my tardiness I've been busy as of late. It's the start to year 9 and I really was not expecting my time management skills to be put to the test so epically. And if you can't already tell I've failed miserably. I don't know how I've managed to pull off doing all my homework the night before but apparently I'm not the only one. I have a new respect for year 10s and upward, as well as the feeling of impending doom for next year. I wouldn't expect regular updates, but I do hope I continue this as I quite enjoy writing it. I guess you'll just have to follow so you can catch the update when it comes out! Ha ha.. ha... (Please). Thank you to any and all who are still reading this. I appreciate it!**

* * *

Sakura sighed as they walked back from another successful mission. It'd been so much harder recently. She hadn't realised just how much work Naruto's clones had been doing until she was the one taking their place. God her arms felt like jelly, and after lifting so many boxes she was surprised her legs didn't wobble with every step she took. She looked at Sasuke to see the usual disinterested look still planted firmly onto his face. And had she mentioned how awkward it had been! Man Sasuke-kun was stubborn! Through out the whole week she'd made attempts to create some sort of conversation but it had all ended in naught! She'd started off so exited, clinging to his arm and very subtly (She was subtle damn it!) closing the space between her hand and his as they walked. But with every rejection she soon went from exited to disappointed. It was going to be no different from how it was when Naruto-baka was here! But no, she wouldn't give up. Couldn't when such an opportunity was thrust before her! But as the days wen t on, her disappointment turned to extreme bordem. No matter what she said to him, he would just look away disinterested, the only response she ever got was a 'Hn' or the occasional 'yes'. She'd learned early on not to get too exited at these rare moments, as it led to him shutting off completely in fear of an actual interaction between the two happening. She huffed. His 'mysterious loner' vibe was a lot less cool than she remembered it to be. During missions, whether they were painting a fence or locating a lost kitten, Sasuke didn't utter a word to her. And don't even get her started on training.

Kakashi wasn't much help either, reading that stupid smut of his, he was lost to the world. The sheer quietness of it all was getting to her. She'd found herself talking to no one about nothing in particular just to fill the empty space around them. Oh how she missed Naruto. His optimistic bubbliness really lightened the mood. She frowned at the thought. Only a week ago she'd been reprimanding him for his hyper activeness, yet without it they felt so empty. So incomplete. But that was just it wasn't it. With Naruto's strange antics, Sakura's good-natured scolding, Sasuke's smirk and condescending comment with the undertone of fond amusement and Kakashi with his sarcasm spured on by the uproar. That was team 7. And in a weird, inexplicable way, he was the one to connect their little circle. While she wasn't always the fondest of him, she'd be the first to admit it wasn't the same without him.

"Y'know, I kinda miss Naruto." She said as they neared the market place.

Sasuke merely 'Hn'd' and turned away from her, and Kakashi showed no evidence that he'd heard what she said, but both agreed with her statement. Sasuke had found himself feeling quite out of place. On missions Sakura hadn't stopped pestering him, trying to spark a conversation where it was unwanted. She'd simmered down quite a bit, even stopped expecting him to reply and for that he was grateful. For all his popularity, Sasuke was not a people's person. To be completely honest, it wasn't the fact that he didn't want to talk per say, but rather the lack of things to say in the first place. He and Sakura had nothing in common. She didn't like training, was completely focused on superficial things, and to top it off was a complete and utter fan girl. HIS fan girl to be exact. And if there was one thing he hated, it was fan girls. He couldn't avoid it in missions, but in training he'd leave her to her own devises as soon as humanly possible. He'd admit the silence was at times unsettling. He was so used to the Dobe's pranks or silly remarks that while quite annoying, were definitely amusing and managed to dissipate any tenseness in the air. An inaudible sigh escaped his lips. It was so much easier with Naruto. When they trained, there was no need to exchange words, just blows. They didn't need to say whether they were angry or frustrated. Their attacks spoke for them. When Naruto did something stupid, he'd just smirk and make a passing remark and that was that. He didn't always mean to insult people. It was just the way he spoke. The condescending tone was completely natural, and often it was just his own brand of teasing. Many people took offence to this, though most didn't voice it since he was 'the last Uchiha', it was quite easy for him to tell. Yet Naruto had never seemed to take any of it to heart, shrugging it off and continuing on, and for that Sasuke respected him. He was relieved to know that someone could, if only a little understand him. He looked off to the side. He wondered what the idiot was doing now.

Kakashi was thinking similar thoughts as he turned the page of his book not really seeing what he was reading. It was odd, to say the least, without their third teammate. As bad as it sounded, he expected the other two to have a much more relaxed way about them. Who wouldn't after all the complaints they made. However he was curious to find the tense atmosphere that surrounded the two as the days went on. There'd been nothing but one sided conversations and huffs of awkwardness. Sakura had attempted to talk to him out of desperation but he'd pretended to ignore her in favour of finding out how Misha-chan was going to seduce her boss without her boyfriend getting wind of it. He didn't want to get in between that. As the Naras would put it, it'd be too troublesome, not to mention it was fun watching his cute little students squirm. He chuckled and smiled to himself. It seemed the two relied on Naruto more than they let on. His thoughts wandered back to his blonde student as he wondered what Naruto had been doing for the past week. There'd been no ruckus that he'd seen or heard of and no hide or hair of Naruto anywhere. It wasn't like him to be so low on the radar. Perhaps the poison had more of an effect than they first thought, and he was too sick to do anything of significance. He hmmed to himself, turning the page once more. Maybe he should go visit the blonde and see if he was alright.

"If Naruto was here, he'd be jumping around and telling us all about one of his 'great pranks'. Waving his arms arms about like a wild chicken or something just to emphasise his point. And then he'd do something stupid like the dunce he is. Though it can be kinda funny. But don't you dare tell him that! We can't have him getting too full of himself, we'll never hear the end of it!." She cried, demonstrating with big gestures the whole way.

The others chuckled at the thought, many other instances of the same popping up in their heads.

"Well we can all look forward to his madness when he returns in a few weeks." Kakashi replied eye smiling.

They continued the last stretch to the hokage tower, each of their thoughts trailing off in their own directions, away from their missing member, being quickly forgotten as new problems arose, like what was for dinner tonight? As it had numerous times before.

* * *

 _Naruto ran down the steps eagerly. He couldn't wait to tell Ji-ji about his new apartment. He'd be so proud! He grinned excitedly as he skipped the last few steps and burst through the doors._

 _"Where am I?"_

 _Looking around he remembered he'd gotten lost before getting knocked out by those guys._

 _"How am I gonna get back?"_

 _As if answering his question, 3 anbu appeared before him. "Naruto-kun, please come with us." Placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder, they shunshined into a worried Sandaimes office._

 _Immediately he rushed over and trapped Naruto in a hug. "Thank God your'e safe." He sighed as Naruto giggled and hugged him back._

 _"Of coarse I am old man! The future Hokage can't die that easily!"_

 _The sandaime pulled back and looked him up and down, finally noticing the bandages. He frowned in worry once again. "What happened?"_

 _Naruto looked away embarrassed. "Well, I left to go find an apartment, but I got lost and these guys knocked me out." The Sandaime's expression went from exasperated disapproval to badly hidden concern. But Naruto perked up, quickly forgetting any previous embarrassment. "And then I was rescued by this awesome guy, Ryobi! I mean he's pretty quiet but he patched me up and took care of me for, uhh, how long have I been gone?"_

 _"3 days Naruto."_

 _"3 days!?" He exclaimed. "Then Mr Ryobi's super nice! He took care of me for all that time! At least I think he did... But anyway he offered me an apartment!"_

 _The sandaime wasn't so exited. "Naruto," He spoke cautiously not wanting to disappoint him," This man, you don't even know him. His intentions may be, less than admirable."_

 _Naruto blinked digesting the long words he'd been forced to grow accustomed to. " But he said he gets lonely! I get lonely too! but if I stay there then we'll both have company."_

 _The sandaimed frowned in disapproval. He didn't like the idea of Naruto staying in a place with a stranger, but he was hard pressed to find a new apartment for the young boy in front of him. It had taken too much time out of his busy schedule already trying to find him a place to live, sadly but unsurprisingly no one he'd come to had been willing to house him, and he was running out of people to ask. Going to this Ryobi's place and checking it out definitely wouldn't hurt and looking at the stars in Naruto's eyes, he knew it was the right choice._

 _"Well," He began, as he rose from his kneeling position and trapped Naruto's hand in his. "We better go see this apartment he's offering you then."_

 _They shun-shinned to the address the anbu had left the Sandaime and walked up the flights of stairs, Naruto leading the way to the owners room. After several knocks from an eager Naruto, the door opened and they were met by the dull stare of Ryobi. Naruto quickly greeted him._

 _"Hey Ryobi! This is Ji-ji! He said he wanted to come look at the place your gonna give me!"_

 _Ryobi just about smiled as he grabbed some keys from a jar on a nearby table and closed the door behind him before leading them a floor up. Hiruzen hadn't missed the strange glint in the man's eye when he'd looked at Naruto, and it immediately had him on alert. Still, it wasn't strictly blood lust he was seeing, he wasn't really sure what it was, and he could give him a chance. He was pretty sure he recognised the man, a war veteran to be sure. Most likely from the third war. Yes, he worked on some seals in the third war, one of the attempts to fortify the border between the countries. There hadn't been many who dared to dabble with seals, as the risk for a seal gone wrong was big and the price high, so it wan't easy to forget one of the few ninja who did. A loyal one definitely, and a promising solution to his current predicament._

 _"We're here, 11b." Ryobi announced as he held open the door for the two. "Feel free to look around."_

 _"Aw hell yes!" Naruto cried exited as he bolted to the hallway to go explore all the new rooms._

 _"Language Naruto!" The Sandaime called after him._

 _As Ryobi shut the door, walked over to the open kitchen, turning on the tap and running his hand under the running water, checking the lights and other electronics as Ryobi watched on._

 _"I am an old man Sandaime." The man in question met the others gaze disbelievingly. He continued. "Old enough to have fought in the third war." His gaze hardened. "Old enough to have lost those that I love."_

 _Hiruzen nodded in sympathy. He understood the sentiment. Outliving those around you, it would easily get lonely. "And,"_

 _"Wow! This bed is huge! I can't believe this is gonna be mine!"_

 _Hiruzen huffed good naturedly and Ryobi's eye wondered over to where the shout resonated from. "I am old and wise enough to see the kunai from the scroll. As someone who knows seals to some extent, I can understand that the young boy is not a murderer."_

 _The sandaime mused over what the man had said. It confirmed his theory that he was one of the sealers of the war. He sensed a bit of bitterness near the end, but looking at the bandages covering the left side of his body, it wasn't hard to imagine why. There was something that had been bugging him since Naruto had landed in his office._

 _"Why couldn't my anbu pick up Naruto's presence before? They're the best of the best so I find it quite curious that they weren't able to detect either of you in the building._

 _"Well I had chakra suppressor put on the building when I first got the place out of paranoia." Came the reply._ _Sarutobi wouldn't question it much. Many war veterans had different quirks or fears. There were things things people would do if it helped them sleep at night and in that way it was quite normal to have such a thing installed. especially for one proficient in seals._

 _"Hm, then why Naruto though? I'm sure there are many people looking for a free house right now?" He voiced his suspicions._

 _"Don't think I hadn't considered others. As much as I wanted the comfort of knowing there are other people in the near vicinity, squeaking floorboards and moaning at 2 am isn't quite what I'm looking for if you catch my drift. This isn't exactly a golden neighbourhood." The hokage could wholeheartedly agree with that. It was one of his main concerns, although he didn't have much other choice at this point. "As for why the boy... well I've always had a soft spot for kids, I guess."_

 _He didn't seem to want to elaborate, but he found himself satisfied with the information he'd already gathered. He mused over what had been said a while longer before nodding. He deemed the man before him trustworthy enough, he could understand the want for company no matter who gave it. As far as he was concerned, this was a blessing hand to him on a silver platter, and who was he to question it?_

 _"Thank you, from one 'old man' to another. I know Naruto is very exited to be moving in here. He's grown quite attached to you already."_

 _Ryobi's mouth twitched upwards._ _"Well, I'm sure there will be plenty of time to get to know each other." He reached into a pocket on the inside of his robes and brought out a few sheets of paper. "Of coarse you won't be needing to pay for the apartment so a contract isn't strictly necessary, but out of formality..."_

 _Sarutobi took the aforementioned contract handed to him along with a pen a quickly flipped through the contract before nodding his head in approval and signing as the guardian of the child. It was at that point that Naruto decided to bounce in, a starstruck expression on his face._

 _"Well you look happy." The Hokage smiled, ruffling his hair when he stopped in front of them. "Uhuh!" He agreed happily, looking up to Ryobi. "Hey when can I move in?!" The man looked at the clock on the wall._

 _"Well now's as good a time as any. You got any furniture you need to move in here?" Naruto shook his head. "Well, that makes things easier. There's not much in here but it's yours. You break it, well you're living with it. Knock yourself out." He said whilst penning the door and tossing the keys to the place behind him for Naruto to catch._

 _"I think I'll be taking my leave also. Be safe Naruto, and don't cause much trouble for Ryobi." The Sandaime said and Naruto saluted his goodbye, pretty smitten with himself for finding an apartment, and such a great one at that! As the two men walked back down the stairs, Ryobi noticed Sarutobi shooting unsure glances towards the place Naruto was residing in._

 _"Don't worry," Ryobi said flashing a curious smile at the other. "If Naruto finds anything amiss, He'll be sure to tell you."_ _Before walking down the corridor and into his apartment. He smirked as the door closed behind him._

'That is if he can.'


End file.
